Humanitarian groups accuse authorities of brutality against migrants
Humanitarian groups accuse French authorities of brutality against migrants
(about 1 hour later)
PARIS — More than a dozen humanitarian and nongovernmental organizations accused local authorities of brutality against migrants as the demolition of a shantytown known as “the Jungle” continued into a third day on Wednesday.
PARIS — More than a dozen humanitarian and nongovernmental organizations accused local authorities of brutality against migrants as the demolition of a shantytown on the edge of Calais known as “the Jungle” continued into a third day.
After police scuffled with migrants protesting the demolition Monday and Tuesday, authorities moved ahead with dismantling the camp in northern France that is often used as a staging ground to cross the English channel to Britain.
After police moved ahead with dismantling the camp on Wednesday, six Iranian migrants sewed their mouths shut to protest the mass evictions and destruction of the makeshift facility in an attempt to bring attention to their plight, the Associated Press reported.
In a statement, French and British humanitarian organizations, mostly local groups — including Auberge des Migrants, Le Réveil Voyageur and Help Refugees — decried what they called the “mass gassing” of migrants by local authorities.
Some camp dwellers have stood on roofs to try to save their huts; others set them afire.
The Iranians held a sign asking for a U.N. representative to visit the camp.
Clare Moseley of the Care4Calais British volunteer group said the protest was “a cry for help because they don’t know what else to do.”
In a statement, French and British humanitarian organizations decried what they called the “mass gassing” of migrants by local authorities.
The French government had promised that the dismantling of the camp would be a “humanitarian operation.” But bulldozers and police arrived first thing Monday morning, and riots broke out among migrants. As a ground crew destroyed homes, migrants responded with rocks and police with tear gas.
The French government had promised that the dismantling of the camp would be a “humanitarian operation.” But bulldozers and police arrived first thing Monday morning, and riots broke out among migrants. As a ground crew destroyed homes, migrants responded with rocks and police with tear gas.
[French court clears way for camp demolition]
[French court clears way for camp demolition]
The groups said the government’s “soothing rhetoric” was “only intended to disguise the reality” — a direct response to remarks last week from Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve promising a methodical demolition.
The groups said the government’s “soothing rhetoric” was “only intended to disguise the reality” — a direct response to remarks last week from Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve promising a methodical demolition.
That reality, they alleged, included rubber bullets used against migrants assembled in peaceful protest, and several club beatings Monday and Tuesday. Many refugees, the 16 co-signers said, were “ordered to leave their homes in a time frame between 1 hour and 10 minutes,” in many cases without time to gather their belongings, including crucial identity documents.
That reality, they alleged, included rubber bullets used against migrants assembled in peaceful protest and several club beatings Monday and Tuesday. Many refugees, the 16 co-signers said, were “ordered to leave their homes in a time frame between 1 hour and 10 minutes,” in many cases without time to gather their belongings, including crucial identity documents.
“All they’re trying to do is get rid of the embarrassing situation,” Clare Moseley, the founder of Care4Calais, said of the French government’s tactics in the camp. “They don’t care where the people go. They’re not even looking where those refugees go.”
“All they’re trying to do is get rid of the embarrassing situation,” Moseley said of the French government’s tactics in the camp. “They don’t care where the people go. They’re not even looking where those refugees go.”
Calais officials did not immediately respond to requests to comment Wednesday morning.
Calais officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The French decision to raze the makeshift settlement in Calais reflects wider measures across Europe to tighten border controls and curb movements amid a historic wave of migrants fleeing war and poverty in North Africa and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the European Union moved to push through a proposal to earmark 700 million euros ($760 million) in humanitarian aid to deal with the refugee crisis.
[Diplomatic war over migrants escalates in Europe]
Christos Stylianides, the E.U. humanitarian-aid commissioner, said Wednesday that 300 million euros ($325 million) would be earmarked for this year and used “where it is most needed,” alluding to Greece and the nations along the Balkan trail that refugees use to move into the heartland of the 28-nation bloc. The overall total would cover three years.
Greek police estimate that as many as 10,000 migrants and refugees are at the border with Macedonia, which has closed entry to its side for the past 24 hours. On Monday, Macedonia’s president, Gjorge Ivanov, warned that the entire Balkan corridor would shut down if Austria reached the migrant quota of 37,500 that it recently announced.
Stylianides said the funds will not be diverted from aid programs aimed at non-E.U. nations.
With the arrival of more than one million migrants and refugees on European soil in the last year, the crisis has extended far beyond refugee camps and immigration quotas, challenging the very idea of Europe itself.
The proposal will need to be approved by the European Parliament and the member states when E.U. leaders meet Monday for a summit focusing on the migration issue.
In response to the French government’s proposed demolition of the Jungle encampment, for instance, Belgium suspended Schengen rules permitting passport-free travel across many internal European borders, a hallmark of the European Union since 1995.
At a campaign rally Tuesday night, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for continental solidarity across an increasingly insular European Union, demanding that the crisis be solved “among the 28 members, so that some states don’t have to take on a heavy burden while others brush the problem away.”
To that end, the European Union's head office announced on Wednesday a plan to earmark 700 million euros in humanitarian aid for the refugee crisis, marking the EU's first-ever emergency aid package for a crisis within its own borders. EU leaders will meet on Monday to discuss the proposal.
Although not Europe’s largest camp, the Jungle — home, at least until recently, to an estimated 4,000 people — has become an emblem of the entire European migrant crisis: a mix of squalor, desperation and hope.
[Most of the refugees stuck in Greece are now women and children]
The proximity of the camp to ferry docks and the Eurotunnel rail link with Britain has led to dangerous attempts to sneak across the English Channel by trying to stow away aboard trucks, trains and boats. Many migrants — from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and other places — seek to reach Britain in hopes of finding work or joining relatives.
The British government has refused to take most of them. And France has now decided that they cannot remain in the camp and has promised to relocate them to nearby container units or to other refugee centers across the country. Even if receiving asylum in Britain remains an unlikely prospect, most migrants and refugees in the Jungle do not wish to apply for asylum in France.
In an interview, Philippe Mignonet, the deputy mayor of Calais, explained that most migrants “already know someone [in Britain] and can find a job on the black market.” In France, he said, “it’s 99 percent impossible to find a job on the black market.”
“Most of them speak English, or a bit of English,” he added. “They could try to learn a bit of French, but they refused to do so.”
[Migrants find doors slamming shut across Europe]
On Monday, authorities began destroying the Jungle’s southern section, its most densely populated area. Clashes flared through the night, with police firing tear gas and forcibly removing migrants trying to stand their ground. Fires were reported in several areas of the camp slated for demolition.
Early Tuesday, a woman stood atop one of the shanties and cut her wrists as police moved in, the Associated Press reported. Her condition was not immediately known. A man accompanying her was beaten by baton-wielding police.
According to a census conducted two weeks ago by the organization Help Refugees, an estimated 3,400 people live in the southern area of the camp, 305 of whom are unaccompanied children.
The destruction of the camp — authorized by a French judge last week — has sparked outrage from aid groups and a legal challenge from about 200 migrants and eight non-governmental organizations.
Moseley, the founder of Care4Calais, one of the nongovernmental aid organizations working on behalf of the refugees, accused French officials of reneging on pledges for a slow-paced intervention in the camp.
“They said they were going to be doing this slowly and gently — and with our cooperation,” she said in an interview. “Let’s just say that has not happened.”
Deputy Mayor Mignonet justified the use of force in clearing out the camp. “There’s no alternative,” he said. “You can’t negotiate, you can’t talk, and you can’t explain.”
Fabienne Buccio, a local prefect, insisted recently that a police presence was necessary because “extremists” might persuade migrants to reject the government’s proposed alternatives. Activists, Mignonet added, “manipulate the migrants” and “use them for political purposes.”
“In fact, they don’t care about the migrants,” he said. “If they did, they would help them accept what the state is offering.”
Arnaud, who would give only his first name, is an activist affiliated with the No Borders group. “A lot of the houses aren’t empty — they just force them out and tear them down,” he said of the demolition of migrants’ homes. “It’s not true when the government says, ‘It’s not eviction, it’s not violent.’ ”
Moseley said she and other volunteers were able to enter the camp but faced tear gas and pepper spray.
“I do not call that nonconfrontational or nonviolent,” she said.
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Spring could bring a fresh surge of refugees. But Europe isn’t ready for them. Germany springs to action over hate speech against migrants
Spring could bring a fresh surge of refugees. But Europe isn’t ready for them.
Germany springs to action over hate speech against migrants
